Looking for a short read to motivate your civic thinking for the next semester?

How about a longer read for over break? Check out "Jumping into Civic Life: Stories of Public Work from Extension Professionals"

Edited by Scott J. Peters (former IA faculty co-director), Theodore R. Alter, and Timothy J. Shaffer. Through eight richly-detailed oral histories, this book helps to open our imagination to the possibilities for professionals to make constructive contributions to the task of making democracy work as it should. The first-hand stories of public work in these oral histories are told by professionals from six different states who either chose or were invited to jump into civic life as active participants. Kettering Foundation Press

Ready to share new Community Engaged Scholarship class next semester? Call for Abstracts: 2019 Community Development Education Symposium -Funding is Available!

The consortium invites Imagining America members who teach community development courses to submit an abstract proposal for the 2019 Community Development Education Symposium that will take place in Detroit, MI, from May 16th-19th. The symposium will convene educators to discuss innovative curricula and educational practices, while exploring the current and future state of community development education.

A limited number of travel stipends will be made available to individuals that are accepted to participate in the symposium. For more information regarding participation please click the link, here.

In addition, individuals participating in the symposium will also be eligible to apply for one of five community development innovation mini-grants (approximately $5,000/grant).

KACIF is a great way for students to get support with funding to help offset the expenses of unpaid internships in the non-profit or government sectors. Encourage your students to apply and take advantage of great opportunities to gain career experience while at GW!

The GW Noyce Scholarship program has a focus on training students who are in STEM concentrations to become teachers in high-need secondary schools after graduation from GW. Scholarships up to $20,000 per year will be available for juniors and seniors admitted into the GW Noyce program.

This week we’re highlighting some take aways from the Imagining America Blog Salon. This selection on Public Scholarship and Resistance, written by a doctoral student as part of the PAGE program is a great tool for discussion in graduate level classes or among colleagues this week.

The Teagle Foundation recently announced an RFP for initiatives related to Education for for American Civic Life,

Through “Education for American Civic Life,” the Foundation seeks to elevate the civic objectives of liberal arts education through faculty-led efforts within the curriculum grounded in the issues that define and challenge American democracy.

For more information: http://www.teaglefoundation.org/Grants-Initiatives/Current-Initiatives-Listing

GW Nursing's Dr. Ellen Kurtzman will get an opportunity to shape policy through her work as a fellow.

“I want to really learn how legislation happens, and the best way for me to do that is through an immersive Hill experience,” Dr. Kurtzman said. Her research and scholarship have addressed the effects of federal and state policies and programs on health care quality and the role of the health care workforce in higher value care. “I always think about my research through a policy lens,” she said. “But I have not had real-world policymaking experience. I’m hoping that this fellowship will ignite dozens of new research questions, sharpen my existing questions and heighten the policy impact of my research to improve patient care and public health.”

He also met with incoming Knapp Fellows Gillian Joseph and Kristen McInerney to hear about their planned Knapp Fellowship projects for the 2018-2019 academic year and how they will engage the community with their research. To see what inspires Gillian and Kristen's work check out their interviews here:

Kristen McInerney is one of two Knapp Fellowship winners for the 2018-2019 school year. Community Engaged Scholar Ashley Hidalgo sat down to discuss Kristen's project with her.

Tell me about your project and how you believe/hope that your scholarship will impact the community you are doing research with?

Kristen McInerney (KM): My research project, stems from my experience with English Learners (ELs) who struggled or are struggling in our traditional high school models and I formerly worked at a few different high schools with a growing EL population. My belief is that our current high schools are not set up for English Learners, and that inspired me to apply to this Graduate School of Education and Human Development Doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction, to see how we can improve the outcomes for ELs. With my research I hope to gather data, that we don’t typically gather upon enrollment of a student, and use it to predict and analyze student outcomes, such as grades and graduation. I am also interested in Resilience Theory and how that relates to my students’ experience in high school. This scholarship will directly impact the immigrant students that I work with and their families and bring the community together. Daily I work with bright, strong, multi-lingual, independent, and inspiring international students who deserve to graduate just like their native English-speaking peers.

AH: That is truly inspiring. What kinds of research methods/methodologies will your research use? I know it was mentioned earlier, but could you elaborate on how these methods bring the community into your work?

KM: My Research Project is my dissertation idea, which is a mixed-methods, explanatory sequential case study, which is beginning with the quantitative data piece to inform qualitative data collection to gain a richer understanding of my students experiences in hopes to tailor programming and policies for English learners. To build community partnerships, I would like to partner with Art Therapists, possibly GW's Art department, to build a mosaic or puzzle mural within our school and share with the wider community. Each student and staff member would create a piece, then it would be combined into a beautiful mosaic, where every single piece is valued and holds an important part in our community. Students will create their design focusing on their identity, the theme of resilience, and what success means for them.

AH: These forms of data collection will be very impactful for students. Why do you think it is important for student researchers (and researchers in general) to incorporate members of the community into research?

KM: Partnerships with the community are incredibly important especially with my population of students as English learners, and really all students. When you think about supporting the whole child and their family, whether they are here or in their home country, it is important to foster a new welcoming home. I think that community partnerships and community participatory action research is really important because the community has a sense of shared ownership, vision, and call to action.

AH: Do you have a favorite researcher/community scholar/activist who inspires you? If so, would you share a quote from them (or a book or article they wrote)?

KM: I have been re-reading the LISA Study by Suarez-Orozco, Suarez-Orozco, and Todorova who did a 5 year longitudinal study of immigrant youth in American high schools. They state in their conclusion, “Immigrant-origin youth come with big dreams and their initial boundless energies and optimism offer a great, if untapped, National resource.” I see that everyday in my students, their energy, their smiles, their excitement, and alongside their tears, and other concerns, and sadness. There is so much potential and strength and assets that our students have, like said if untapped or should be tapped, it is certainly a wealth of knowledge. And to be bilingual or trilingual there are so many things that our students can do and I want to give them the tools and opportunity to do so.

AH: What a great quote! You could have chosen many different ways to do your research-why involve the community? What do you think it adds to the research by doing this?

KM: I believe that my research holds more meaning and it is more empowering when it involves the community. Just like the school that I work in, the staff as a whole has a common passion goal, and drive Also, the more awareness we can draw to a problem, the more potential solutions we can find. And the greater the call to action and greater impact can happen.

AH: Do you anticipate working with any community partners (non-profits, other scholars, students here at GW other students or public institutions (schools, hospitals etc.), in this research?

KM: Yes, I definitely am reaching out to people who are involved with Art Therapy and other forms of social work and dealing with trauma. I know that GW has an Art Therapy program, so I am hoping to build a partnership with them, but I really think that developing partnerships especially for our students will really be able to help us able to reach them and provide the best experience possible in our school.

AH: Is there anything you’d like to say to Former GW President and Mrs. Knapp for funding the Fellowship?

KM: Yes, it is an incredible honor and I would want to first say thank you for believing in my students. They are the reason why we do what we do, and for them to recognize my student population as valuable and worthy, of having one of the best experiences possible in our high schools, that goes a long way trusting and for believing in me. Thank you for seeing ahead, and funding something that is a big passion of mine and for helping me make a difference in my community. It is truly a humbling opportunity and I have a lot of work to do on the project but I would say thank you for believing in me.

Bianca Trinidad is a Community Engaged Scholar with the Nashman Center. She sat down to talk with Gillian Joseph one of two winners of the 2018-2019 Knapp Fellowship Award.

Bianca: Tell me about your project.

Gillian: So, I named my project, Find Our Women, but the purpose of it is to provide an answer to the unanswered - to give part of a solution to the missing and murdered indigenous women crisis that’s going on in the U.S. and also in Canada, but the U.S. has no public inquiry into it, whereas Canada does. So, there’s really been nothing done formally to help indigenous women that have been going missing and being killed in the U.S.

My project revolves around creating a website and also a mobile application for phones, because a huge problem is how information flows between police networks and reservations, because a lot of times they’re really rural and isolated.

My project is trying to make it easier for women and the families of women to report when they’re missing or something is wrong. And to have a formal database. You see, indigenous women don’t have their own database and they’re not always registered under a federal missing persons database. So, that’s really important to actually have data on, because there is no true data on indigenous women going missing. A lot of the data is collected from community members that are like “My aunt is still missing” or “My sister is still missing”. So, that’s the biggest part of it.

The website will have all the resources needed on it and a lot of facts and statistics. There’s no one place that you can go to to get facts and stats, and so, I’m hoping that my website would make it easier for indigenous women to have resources they need, such as hotline numbers or other websites that will be useful to them. Any information that needs to go to them will be on the website and also, just for the general public to have a place to go, because I feel like it’s hard to get people to pay attention, and it’s really hard if you tell them about it, and they have to Google search for about half an hour in order to find anything. So hopefully, it will make it easier to raise awareness.

The last part of my project is getting firsthand accounts and stories of families of missing women and survivors that have gone missing or have had experience with domestic violence and for them to be able to share their stories about it. This collection of stories will be posted on the website, and accessible to the public. I feel like a lot of times, people care more when they hear a firsthand account. I feel like it’s hard to understand what is actually going on. A lot of people don’t know anything about it - which is expected. It’s not really publicized. So getting traction behind it and showing indigenous voices, instead of talking over them.

Bianca: So, what inspired you to take on this kind of project?

Gillian: I’m actually part Dakota. My dad is Dakota, my mom is white. So, my dad is from South Dakota, and I actually spent last summer living on the Cheyenne Reservation in South Dakota, and culturally, it is really important to protect women, because women are considered sacred in a lot of Dakota tribes and also in general Native culture.

I’ve heard stories from my dad, and it’s been going on since my dad was a kid and before then. And my friends; and just like knowing that women I’m related to or are in the same tribe or tribal nation as me are going missing is - it’s a lot to think about, because it’s not always in your mind. But when you have that attachment to it, it is.

So I would talk to my dad about it a lot and to other people. I have a really awesome mentor. My faculty advisor here; she is also a Native woman. So talking to her about it and to other Native women really helped me decide that it wasn’t enough for me to just talk about it. But instead, I need to actually offer what I thought could maybe help. We’ll see if it does! I think it will!

Bianca: I definitely think it will. Okay, so how do you hope this fellowship will affect the community you are doing research with?

Gillian: So, I truly hope that it will give at least the native communities, well I would be focusing more on the Dakotas, just because that’s where I have a relational tie to. But I’m hoping that it will really give indigenous women a voice in this nation, because a lot of times I see people talking about MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women), but never mention actual women, and so, they just turn into an epidemic and not people. So, it dehumanizes them in a way. And so, that would be really effective, and also having this data from the database collected and giving indigenous women a way to have to report their family and their friends, and just having that power, which is a basic human right. Having that will hopefully: a) create awareness for the community and have people take it more seriously and b) eventually get the government to help officially recognize that.

Bianca: So what kinds of research methods will your research use and how do these methods bring the community into your work?

Gillian: I think a lot of times people think about research in a very different way than Native culture and communities do. So, when you go to an actual tribe or community in a reservation, and hand out surveys, they would be like “what are you talking about?”. It wouldn’t translate very well. But a really big value with research and doing research, in a way that Native people do, is a lot of discussion. I’ll be going to South Dakota and will talk to tribal elders, members and of course, women to try to understand what they think they need and what they want to see out of it, because that’s the best way to do research: to have those kinds of big round table discussions. For quantitative research, the database will definitely be a big part of that, and it will be directly from indigenous communities. I’ll be able to look at that data and see what’s happening. A lot of times, people report to police officers or they’re reported online, like people post about it on Facebook groups and stuff. So, that data will be collected from those sites and will be put into one place, so that you can actually find it.

Bianca: Why do you think it is important for student researchers or researchers in general to incorporate members of the community into research?

Gillian: So, sometimes it is the difference between helping someone and helping provide the resources to help someone. So, this idea of not talking over people and not implementing something onto the community, but with the community. Especially with Native communities, there’s a long history of people who try to help in a way that is more along the lines of white saviorship than actual help. So, I think when you integrate people from a community into your project, you’re actually helping the community more, because you’re putting their voices first; you’re understanding more about what they actually need and not what you think they need.

Bianca: I agree. So next question, do you have a favorite researcher, community scholar, or activist who inspires you?

Gillian: Hmm, that’s a really good question. I never really thought about that. I don’t know. I’m always really impressed by other Native American women; like regardless of who they are and what they’re doing. Whenever I see them being really active, whether it’s helping their community in general or the broader Native community or general public, it’s always so awesome to see that. You know, it’s inspiring. A lot of times, I think I never see Native women in a public space, so that’s really cool; like Winona Laduke, she’s a Native activist. In general, native women inspire me.

Bianca: You could’ve chosen several different ways to do your research, so why involve the community?

Gillian: Native values and that cultural understanding of putting their voices first are really important to me. I don’t want to talk over anyone, because it should be coming from the survivors and their families, and from the women’s ideas and voices.

Bianca: So, do you anticipate working with any community partners in this research?

Gillian: I haven’t formally signed on with any community partners. In the future, possibly. There’s not a huge amount of Native American Women-specific organizations. I can only think of one: The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center, and I’ve talked to them a little. We haven’t formally agreed to anything. I’m sure that there will be other organizations that will be able to help me, or at least help me with resources and guidance. The community is really awesome. I feel like if you ask a question, people will be able to answer it.

Bianca: Okay, so last but not least, is there anything you’d like to say to the Former GW President and Mrs. Knapp for funding the fellowship?

Gillian: Thank you so much! When I heard the news that I won the fellowship, I called my dad and we were both crying, because there’s just nothing that addresses what indigenous women go through and how important Native American women are. So yeah, that’s kind of cool to know that this fellowship is funding something that should’ve been funded long ago, and I’m glad that I can be that person to help get it through and who helped get it funded. So, thank you.

Bianca: Congratulations once again! I think that what you are doing is incredible and super inspiring.

Original research demonstrating in-depth engagement with the Washington, DC community.

Clear and effective communication of ideas.

Adherence to the academic standards of a particular field or discipline.

The prize honors Sgt. Julian Clement Chase, 22, a native of Washington DC who was killed in action in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. He was set to matriculate at GW in Spring 2013. Julian knew and relished his city. His family has established this prize to recognize others who explore DC with the intelligence and exuberance that he did.

The Campus Compact Mid-Atlantic (CCMA) is a non-profit membership association of colleges and universities that are public, 2-year and 4-year. They advocate, support, and encourage institutional participation in academic and co-curricular based on public service and civic engagement programs to universities and colleges in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Delaware. Here are some news and updates from the CCMA:

Next, CCMA is searching for two new VISTA leaders! These two leaders will serve as a resource for their VISTA cohort of 30 members, build capacity for their organization, and support VISTA alumni outreach. If you have participated in national service for at least a year and are interested, apply now at: https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?id=71785&fromSearch=true

Also, CCMA is officially welcoming Delaware into their network. So, join them for a CCMA Launch in the University of Delaware on Wednesday, April 18. 2018, where discussions about Mobilizing Higher Education’s Ability to Elevate Community Life Through P-20 Partnerships will be held. There will be a panel of CCMA Presidents, followed by an Idea Exchange, CCMA Award, and a Launch Plenary speaker. Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/campus-compact-mid-atlantic-launch-welcome-delaware-tickets-42333543769

In addition, there are some opportunities to earn grants for papers and proposals. The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) is inviting departments from colleges and universities in the U.S. to apply for mini-grants. These grants will formalize helping students investigate disciplinary questions in their major through a civic lens. Applications are due by April 23rd, 2018. Click here for more information and to access the application: https://www.aacu.org/civic/mini-grants

Finally, nominations are now open for the CCMA 2017 Awards. Every year, the CCMA recognizes and awards those who have shown excellence in leadership of civic engagement and service-learning in order to promote a culture of engagement throughout the region. There are several awards opportunities, so click here to see their descriptions and to find out how to nominate an individual or a program: https://www.mdccc.org/events/pi/awards.html

So, these are some events and opportunities that the CCMA is offering, and if you are interested to find out more about these kinds of news and events, check out their full website: https://www.mdccc.org/index.html.

Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service

The Nashman Center supports faculty whose teaching, research, and service is accomplished in collaboration with the community to benefit the public good. To receive a brief weekly email highlighting these posts, contact Wendy Wagner at wagnerw@gwu.edu.